Eagles 31, Cowboys 21

Eagles Pick Right Spot For Upset

IRVING, Texas — Troy Aikman made two uncharacteristic mistakes Sunday, and the Philadelphia Eagles made him pay for their first victory in Texas Stadium in five years.

The Dallas quarterback threw an interception to set up the Eagles' go-ahead field goal, then served up a second interception just trying to throw the ball away from the Eagles' 3-yard line. The second mistake was returned for the clinching touchdown in the Eagles' 31-21 victory over the Cowboys.

"I wasn't trying to complete the pass," said Aikman, who has three Super Bowl rings. "I was trying to get rid of it. It was a bad play."

Linebacker James Willis intercepted Aikman's last-minute pass 4 yards into the end zone, ran to the 10 and lateraled to Troy Vincent, who went 90 yards for a touchdown with 12 seconds left, shocking the defending Super Bowl champions as they appeared to be going for the game-winner.

"When I saw him (Willis) intercept the ball I was calling his name, hoping he heard me," Vincent said.

He did, and the Eagles (7-2) are tied for first with Washington, while Dallas (5-4) saw its hopes of a fifth straight NFC East title fade. Philadelphia had lost nine of its last 10 games against Dallas and hadn't won in Texas Stadium since a 24-0 shutout in 1991.

The Eagles built a 21-13 lead in the third quarter on a touchdown pass to Irving Fryar from Ty Detmer, now 4-0 as the Eagles' starting quarterback. But Dallas tied it with 10:14 to go on Emmitt Smith's second TD of the game, a 7-yarder, and a 2-point pass from Aikman to Eric Bjornson.

Safety James Fuller picked off Aikman's pass at the Dallas 35 to set up Gary Anderson's go-ahead 30-yard field goal with 3:19 left to play. But Aikman's subsequent third-down gaffe gave Philadelphia the winning score.